Re: Great SWT Program

In article <5mhhdbFdeaobU1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
blmblm@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <blmblm@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
In article <1191357313.827008.125560@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
<bbound@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Just a few follow-up thoughts, and then maybe I'll be able to shut
up and let you slag my friends [*] in peace:

[*] Is it pathetic to consider computer tools one's friends?
Probably. <shrug>

See above. If you have real video hardware why the *** are you using
text-mode applications at all??? :P

I think there are two questions here:

(*) One is why/whether should people who already know text-mode
tools should switch to something with a GUI. IMO, the most
compelling reason for switching is that the GUI offers features not
available with the text-mode tool -- not "not readily learnable
by novices", but "not available", or "not available without
significant additional learning". Whether the text-mode tool is
novice-friendly isn't important for these people, except as it
affects whether there will continue to be a user base for the tool.

The snob appeal of knowing something most people don't, and a
reluctance to discard tools one has spent a lot of time mastering,
are factors, if not very admirable ones. But if that investment
of time has paid off by allowing a long-time user of these tools
to be as productive as he/she could be with a GUI tool -- either
right away, or after some learning -- well, that seems to me to
be a more persuasive reason not to switch.

Unless you've watched someone who's good with these tools use
them, I'm not sure you can really know whether one can be as
productive with them as you are with your preferred tools.
I'm not sure myself whether someone whose preferred tools are
mostly GUI-based can be as productive as I am with my preferred
tools -- it certainly seems possible.

(*) The other question is why/whether people who already know GUI
tools should switch to something text-mode. I won't try to make
a case that they should. What I do think is that some people
(particularly those who design software for others to use,
but also anyone smart/determined enough to use the old tools)
should be exposed to the old text-mode tools *in a way that
shows their strengths as well as their weaknesses*.

Based on my experience with doing this (teaching people a little
about the old tools), a small minority of those so exposed
will decide they like the old tools, for a few things at least,
and I think giving them options they wouldn't otherwise have
had is good.

And those who design software -- well, maybe having a broader
experience of what has been done in the past will lead to them
developing something that incorporates the strengths of the old
stuff as well as the new.

--
B. L. Massingill
ObDisclaimer: I don't speak for my employers; they return the favor.
.

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